“Stopping a Thief, Part I” - A Tale of Heroes - Scene 53: Karendle

Karendle tried to run through the alley, but it was too cluttered and her knee and shin were painful and weak. The best she could do in the shadows of the dim morning light was to limp and stumble her way forward. After a few yards, she saw some barrels stacked along the side of the building and reached out to them for support. Her eyes adjusted. Maybe it’s just getting lighter. She steadied herself and ran ahead.

I can’t lose him! He had to come this way!

She came to a spot that was a bit lighter, where the alley intersected with another at the end of the building, along a fence. Which way to go? She looked each way. I’ll bet he went left, she told herself, and took off that way.

Immediately, her foot hit some garbage and she tripped. She fell, hard, onto the dirt of the alley. Just as quickly she heard something shout in pain. That wasn’t me.

She flipped over and leaned up. Next to a couple of crates was a small, brown burlap tarp. The broken twine at the corners suggested that it had probably been covering the crates at one point. Something was moving under the clutter. Yes, there are two legs sticking out from under that wrap! Ignoring the sharp pain in her leg, she stood and whisked the tarp away.

“No! Don’t take me! Don’t take me! Let me go home!” He was thin, and looked older. The empty jug on his arm and the ale-soaked shirt told her his story.

“Hey!” She said, grabbing him and picking him up. She leaned him against the wall.

“Don’t take me!” He shrieked again. She winced at the toxic smell of alcohol that wafted from him. His tunic was also a dull brown and caked with dirt and dust.

“I’m not taking you anywhere!” She shouted, shaking him. “Who would want you?” She let go and he slumped down again, mumbling. Wait. He might have seen the thief. 

“I’ll go home...”

“Did someone just run by here?”

He looked up at her, confused.

“I”m not going to hurt you! Just tell me if someone came through here!”

He sighed and wiped his face as he cleared his thoughts. Then, he nodded, and pointed. “Yeah. Just now. Did you get robbed?”

“Yeah.” She limped off in that same direction. Yeah. I got robbed.

He called after her. “Watch out! Don’t let them take you!”

Karendle didn’t allow herself a moment to wonder what he meant.

<<<>>>

This continues the story of the heroes in Wynne, in Twynne Rivers, in the world of The Hero's Tale, Family Friendly RPGs. Here's more info on The Hero's Tale, and family friendly RPGing.


Previous Scene, Next Scene
Start the whole story from the beginning. Start from where this current story arc begins.

“How Did You Do That?” - A Tale of Heroes - Scene 40: Karendle

For a moment, everyone on the barge just looked at each other. No one seemed to know who anyone else was, or why they were there. All except the giant, who was frantically looking around trying see where the elf girl had gone.  The shadow wizard girl and her friend were pretty badly beaten up, and looked like they didn’t know who they were fighting, or why. Their attackers were looking at the fire wizard in the middle of the boat like he was some sort of avenging angel, and he wasn’t there to rescue them. Suddenly something clicked in Karendle’s mind.

They’re from the Wizard’s Guild! But that revelation brought more questions. What are they doing here? And why do they want the girl?

She reached into her pouch as she scrambled to her feet. Well, I don’t care! I’m here to catch wizards, and I hate the Wizard’s Guild, so that’s all the understanding I need!

She pulled out the entrapment oculus, and pointed it at the mage in the middle of the barge, shouting, “I’m taking you down, wizard!” Surprised faces turned to look at her as the oculus glowed. A silvery light enveloped the man, drawing him toward the oculus. The light surrounded him, then shrunk around him, shrunk with him, and finally sucked him into the glowing stone.

Karendle looked at the grey gem in her hand and mused, “Amazing! It worked!”

The silent confusion was shattered by the giant’s grunts of rage as he rushed at the man who had attacked him, swinging his hammer before him. “Get! OFF! My! BOAT!” He landed a solid hit, smashing the man into the railing, which broke and sent him tumbling into the river.

The one in the white tunic rolled from his prone position on the deck to grab his sword and slash the legs of the man who had been beating him. He screamed and fell to the deck, where he was kicked off the other side of the barge. He then crawled over to the shadow mage, and helped her sit up. They, Karendle, and the giant looked from one to the other, in awkward and confused silence.

That silence, moments later, was broken by a crackling sound from the bow of the boat. As everyone looked, reality again distorted and swirled, finally spitting the elf girl, screaming, out onto the deck, sprawled across a few of the cargo crates.

“Thissraelle!” The giant ran to her and lifted her up.

“Thanks!” She shivered, clinging to his warmth, “Can I get a blanket?”

As they made their way to the steering platform, the soldier in white asked her, “What happened to the one who had you trapped?”

She smiled, “I left him in The Vast.” Karendle didn’t understand, and obviously neither did anyone else. “I’ll explain later.”

The giant wrapped Thissraelle in a blanket, then handed blankets to the others before climbing onto the platform and steering the barge out over the dark river. As she wrapped herself up in the blanket’s soft comfort, the giant sighed, then muttered, “West. West is Best.”

<<<>>>

This continues the story of the heroes in Wynne, in Twynne Rivers, in the world of The Hero's Tale, Family Friendly RPGs. Here's more info on The Hero's Tale, and family friendly RPGing.


Previous Scene, Next Scene
Start the whole story from the beginning. Start from where this current story arc begins.

“Who is Who?” - A Tale of Heroes - Scene 39: Karendle

Noises from the barge jolted Karendle awake. She lifted her head up from the table on the wharf where she was sitting. She had been watching the giant and the barge diligently, but had drifted off to sleep at some point in the early night. She stood up and looked down the pier, and saw three strange men on the barge fighting with the giant and the others. Hey, who is this? She saw one of them jump at the dark-cloaked wizard girl. They’re after my quarry! I’ve got to stop this!

With a leap, Karendle took off running down the pier. Her sleepy grogginess and the swaying of the pier made it a bit difficult for her to maintain her balance. As she got to the barge, she was about to jump on board, but was surprised to see it suddenly lurch in the water, smashing into another nearby barge.

She regained her balance, took a step back, and threw herself over the widening gap of water, landing hard on the foredeck.

She scrambled to her feet, and looked aft over the cargo crates. There’s the giant, fighting one of the men, and there’s another that looks like he’s tangled up in darkness. That’s got to be the doing of the girl I’m after! But where is she? I can’t see over all this cargo!

She jumped up and clambered to the top of the pile of crates. From there, she could see much better. I’d better get my oculi ready this time! She grabbed here pouch, then looked out over the scene. The wizard girl was lying on her back, and she didn’t look good. Next two her two men were wrestling, and beyond them, the man who had been wrapped in darkness was freed and jumping to his feet. He seemed to be rushing to get to the stern where a young elven girl was sitting in lanternlight.

A sudden loud whoop of laughter from above caught everyone’s attention. Seemingly out of the dark sky, into the wash of the light of the lanterns and oculi, a young man, or maybe an elf, floated quickly down onto the deck in front of the platform. He spun toward the man rushing aft and shouted, “Oh, no, you don’t! She’s mine!”

He pointed at the man and a hot pulse of fire shot from his hand, hitting the attacker squarely on the chest, bursting brightly and loudly, and blowing him up and off the barge. He splashed hard into the Wynne. The Elf girl screamed.

Karendle dropped to the crates, trying to hide. My Holy Lights! Another Wizard! This IS my lucky day! She looked again. There was something familiar about the pattern of his red and blue shirt that she had seen before. Not the colors, but maybe the patterns or the markings?

A sudden wave hit the barge, and hit it hard. It flipped everyone off their feet, and off the deck. As Karendle landed in the now loose pile of crates, she scurried to regain her balance.

The Elf screamed again, and yelled something Karendle didn’t understand. When she could see again, the barge was stable in the water, but everyone was climbing back to their feet. All except the girl, who was being held tight by yet another young man, this one definitely human, and wearing clothing similar to the other wizard. He gripped her tightly around her waist, his sleeves and arms glowing white with bright light.

“Hold still!” He yelled at her, “We’re just taking you home!”

She shouted and kicked at him, to no avail. Then she stopped, and seemed to focus her mind. There was a sizzling, crackling sound, and in an instant they were gone. It was as if reality itself swallowed them both and gulped them down.

“THISSRAELLE!” a deeper voice screamed. The giant lumbered to where she had been on the platform and fell to the deck.

<<<>>>

This continues the story of the heroes in Wynne, in Twynne Rivers, in the world of The Hero's Tale, Family Friendly RPGs. Here's more info on The Hero's Tale, and family friendly RPGing.


Previous Scene, Next Scene
Start the whole story from the beginning. Start from where this current story arc begins.

“What is Going On?” - A Tale of Heroes - Scene 38: DeFrantis

“This doesn’t look good,” DeFrantis said, scowling at the men at the bow of the barge.

Antonerri turned. Three men had just stepped off the pier onto the barge. The way the Giant had stepped back defensively was telling. They weren’t too far away, so DeFrantis and Antonerri could hear the conversation easily in the otherwise quiet night.

“What is it you’re looking for?”

“Oh, don’t play like you don’t already know!” One of the men jumped up on some cargo boxes and began to move across them, toward the stern, toward DeFrantis. He was looking closely at each crate as he crawled over it. The other two reached into their cloaks and drew out short swords.

“Oh this is definitely not good.” She whispered. She saw Antonerri grip his own stolen sword more tightly, keeping it hidden from the view of the assailants. “What have we gotten ourselves into?” I don’t know who’s good or bad, here. Granthurg’s been very kind and gave us a good price on our passage, but he looks to be tangled up in some real problems!

The apparent leader jabbed his sword at Granthurg, who jumped back. “Hey, easy, there...”

“Just tell me where it is, and nobody has to get hurt!” He jerked his head a bit, signaling his companion. The other man ran around the boxes to the other side of the barge, heading toward the stern.

The giant staggered backward, calling out, “Thissraelle! Get the barge moving!” He was trying to get to her without losing sight of the one threatening him. The man followed, holding the sword steady before him.

What to do? She glanced with worry at Antonerri. He was watching the drama unfold intently. As the two went past him, he spun and lunged at the human, knocking him off his feet into the railing. The two of them tumbled to the deck. The giant and DeFrantis both looked on for a moment, surprised by the attack.

“GRANTHURG!” A high voice called out. They both turned to see a huge double-handed warhammer floating quickly through the air. He reached up and grabbed it, then reset himself for the battle.

DeFrantis saw the other man moving past the corner of her eye. He was almost to the steering platform where Thissraelle was standing, arms still raised to guide the hammer. DeFrantis quickly reached into her own will. She drew the shadows from around the crates and the pier upward, into the air, twisting around the man, binding him fast in darkness.  Thissraelle looked at her in surprise, then smiled quickly, and jumped back to her task on the platform.

Just as quickly, DeFrantis was knocked to the deck as another assailant landed on her from behind. She wriggled and struggled beneath him, feeling a sharp cutting pain in her arm. As she twisted, she found her face pressed to the floor as fingers twisted into her hair and pulled her head back. She saw the brief flash of lantern light reflected off a bloody dagger in front of her face.

I’m going to die!

Another heavy weight hit her and the man on her back, slamming them both flat, and knocking her breath out and smacking her head onto the deck. In another instant, the others rolled off her back and she could breathe again. She looked and saw Antonerri wrestling her attacker to the deck. Who had the advantage was not at all clear, though.

She tried to lift herself up, but one hand slipped on something wet and warm. She looked at it and saw blood. It hurt, too, higher up toward the shoulder, and it felt weak. Is that my blood? She managed to lift herself up with her other arm. She could hear the clang of the sword on the hammer to her left. To her right, Antonerri was on his back trying to fend off fist blows being thrown to his face.

The barge lurched in the water and, with a loud crunch, banged against another barge berthed beside it. The impact flipped her over onto her back. It lurched again, as it began to move away from the pier.

She felt dizzy, and that made it hard to get up. She could feel her will slipping away, releasing the shadows holding the third man. She tried to maintain their strength, but finally had to let them dissipate. .

What did we get ourselves into?

<<<>>>

This continues the story of the heroes in Wynne, in Twynne Rivers, in the world of The Hero's Tale, Family Friendly RPGs. Here's more info on The Hero's Tale, and family friendly RPGing.


Previous Scene, Next Scene
Start the whole story from the beginning. Start from where this current story arc begins.

“Lost and Found” - A Tale of Heroes - Scene 33: Karendle

By the time she was tired of looking for her quarry, the sun was hanging a bit low, tinting the buildings tops of the InnerWall with orange.

The night before, she had seen them escape the guard tower, and even managed to knock them to their knees with an ill-planned explosion of magical power from her oculus. That woke the soldiers on guard as well as the neighborhood. She tried to rush off after the two fugitives, but the soldiers saw her move and began to pursue her, instead. This was only made worse by the people who heard the bang and came running out of pubs and homes to see what was going on.

In the unfamiliar city, it hadn’t been easy for her to lose them. Fortunately, there were many roads and alleys for her to disappear into. She spent the night in fitful sleep under awnings and behind storage barrels, waking and moving frequently.

As the morning sun was starting to show a faint glow in the sky, she finally found a stable with a pile of straw and sank into exhausted slumber.

She awoke just before midday, and slid back out into the street. It was busy enough and she managed to blend her way along, still avoiding any contact with soldiers or constables.

After a meal in an inn, she had wondered what her next step was. She could keep searching for them, or try to find another wizard to capture. For now, she decided to resume her search. It was difficult at first to find the same guard tower, and, after following the direction of their flight into the city, it became clear that she had lost any real chance of finding them.

Still, she had spent the afternoon wandering the the streets of the InnerWall and finally found herself on the northern wharfs of the RiverFront.

By that time, it was getting to be early evening, and she sat down on a public bench, weary and needing a rest.

This is much harder than I thought. There are so many ways for someone to vanish. I’m quite hungry as well, but I need to be careful with my coin. She opened up her purse and reached in, shifting the oculi aside to find a few gold pieces remaining. I guess I’ll be OK. I just want to bring back a wizard. I want to make this happen!

As the sun began to lower, she stood and walked upriver only casually glancing around her. A fried fish at a pub here on the river would be pretty nice, right about now.

As she stepped toward a pub she walked past a couple of open air table of giants, river runners and barge steersmen, talking and sharing ale. While most were talking among themselves, a few were talking with others, non-giants. As she passed she could hear them talking about cargo rates and passenger fares. A lady seemed to be booking passage to the west.

She walked on, then paused. That woman’s voice. I’ve heard it before. Karendle turned to look back at the table. One of the giants, bulky, with a shaved head and a vest, was walking down the pier toward the barges. With him walked a man in white soldier’s livery, with a diminutive woman in a black cloak. In an instant, she recognized them. That's her! I can't believe my luck!

She quickly reached for her purse, and rushed back. Before she got to the table, she paused. Oh no. There are a lot of people here. I'm not making the same mistake twice!

She watched as they all boarded one of the barges. I'll just take my time and watch. Maybe tonight the situation will be better.

She backed away and found a small barrel to sit on, and waited.

<<<>>>

This continues the story of the heroes in Wynne, in Twynne Rivers, in the world of The Hero's Tale, Family Friendly RPGs. Here's more info on The Hero's Tale, and family friendly RPGing.


Previous Scene, Next Scene
Start the whole story from the beginning. Start from where this current story arc begins.

“Magic in Her Hands” - A Tale of Heroes - Scene 21: Karendle

Karendle sat on the street, watching the guard tower.  How am I supposed to get in and get that mage? If she’s captured already, should I still take her? Her mind slipped back to the day after that first meeting in the inn. The two men had come back and found Karendle ready and eager. She could hardly keep her seat.

“Can I have the oculi?” She had asked as soon as they appeared. She reached out.

“Easy there, miss.” One of them held back the pouch. “First, a couple of rules. Then, we’ll have to show you how to use them.”

She sat back, still impatient.

“First of all, you will tell no one about us. You will communicate with us using the blue oculus, but only when you have caught a mage, or are in dire need. And no-one can see you do it. Understood?”

She nodded, “How do I use the gem?”

“Calm down, we will explain all!” The other one also laughed at her impatience.

“Second, do not feel you need to ask questions of us. We will tell you what you need to know, when you need to know it. Dig no deeper than that.”

That was a little troublesome, but she had nodded anyway.

“Good. Here.” He tossed a small pouch to her. It jangled a bit as it hit the table. “That will get you started.”

She opened the pouch and saw coins, easily five gold, and a few more silvers and coppers. She looked up, her eyes wide.

“When you bring us your first wizard, you’ll get more.” He stood and gestured to the door, “Shall we?”

She had followed them into the storm, to an isolated alley, and they had shown her how to hold the oculus. She had struggled at first, but was finally able to channel her will through it and shoot out a sharp blast of fire, which quickly fizzled in the rain. The memory of the thrill of feeling magic in her hand for the first time still made her tingle.

The next few days had been spent in her room at the inn, practicing with the oculus. When she did get out, the constant rains meant there were few people, so she found no information about any mages.  Finally, a pubcrier had announced another criminal wizard assault at an inn called the Brown Boar. Rain or shine, she would find this wizard!

As she sat remembering, an ornate white carriage rolled by and stopped in front of the tower. It was pulled by a single horse, and the carriage and livery were all white. There was a symbol of three stars or lights on the side. What’s this?

The driver set the brake, and climbed down to open the door. A man in white robes stepped out, then reached back in to get a long staff.  He and the driver walked around to the door of the tower, being very careful to not step in any mud or puddles.

The driver opened the door and called out, “Please stand for the Priest Confessor!” The priest stepped in, and the driver returned to the carriage.

Karendle stood and walked down the street a bit further to get a better view. She’d seen the symbol a few times in the city. It was on a few of the cathedrals, and some of the soldiers wore it. She’d never seen it in the Dwarven Kingdom.

After a while, the Priest emerged from tower and called out to the driver, who scurried to open the door for his master. Karendle noticed that the priest looked agitated, flustered. What could have happened inside?

Karendle sat back down as she watched the carriage rumble away.

<<<>>>

This continues the story of the heroes in Wynne, in Twynne Rivers, in the world of The Hero's Tale, Family Friendly RPGs. Here's more info on The Hero's Tale, and family friendly RPGing.


Previous Scene, Next Scene
Start the whole story from the beginning. Start from where this current story arc begins.

“The Tower” - A Tale of Heroes - Scene 20: Karendle

After her meal, she walked down the gentle slope of the hill, and found the wall separating the Inner and the Outer city areas. It was tall, possibly fifteen feet. It was built up of stone, and thick enough for a walkway along the top, complete with battlements. All along the wall was a wet cobblestone street, and opposite were houses and shops. The shops were starting to close up for the evening, and the people she passed were moving into the homes. As she walked along the street, she soon came to one of the guard towers built into the wall.

It was large and round, jutting out from the wall itself, with doors and windows. The tower was a few stories tall, much higher than the wall itself, with battlements on top. Upon finding it, she stepped into the door, and found two soldiers sitting at a table.

They were tall humans, especially compared to Karendle’s own stature, each wearing a tunic with the emblem of the Twynne Rivers army. They stood right away and put their hands on their sword hilts.

“What are you wanting, now, miss?” One of them said, with narrow eyes full of suspicion.

“A - a young wizard was brought in here last night. A thief. I want to see her.”

“Prisoners don’t get visitors!” He barked, then reconsidered her. “What’s your authority?”

She hadn’t considered this question. She looked carefully at them both, “I’ve been given charge to track wizards in this city. I want to speak with the one you have captive.”

“So you say. Show us your letter and seal. We won’t just let anyone through here.”

Of course. Those men didn’t give me any authorization. And I should have asked to see theirs, too. What’s their authority? Who hired them?

“I, ah, I don’t have one yet.”

The guards laughed and glanced at each other. “Well, you’d best be getting one, or we won’t let you pass.”

“Of course,” She muttered, mostly to herself, “Thank you.” She stepped back out onto the street.

<<<>>>

This continues the story of the heroes in Wynne, in Twynne Rivers, in the world of The Hero's Tale, Family Friendly RPGs. Here's more info on The Hero's Tale, and family friendly RPGing.


Previous Scene, Next Scene
Start the whole story from the beginning. Start from where this current story arc begins.

"The Easy Way?" - A Tale of Heroes - Scene 16: Karendle

As she sat in the Brown Boar, finishing her dinner, she thought about how her life had changed in the last few days. Twynne Rivers was nothing like she had expected.

After getting thrown out of the Wizard’s Guild, and after shouting angry dwarvish curses over the fence at the guards standing by the CenterTown wall, she had stormed away. It was evening, and darker than usual because of the heavy clouds that had drifted over the city. She started walking, but had not gone far when the rains began.

The first inn she found was quite expensive, and she only had a few coins. She tried  offering work, cleaning, in exchange for a meal and lodging. One by one, the inns turned her back out into the rain. As she got further down the RiverFront the prices did get lower, but not low enough.

Finally, after talking to an innkeeper, she shook the rain from her clothes and started toward the door. As she passed two men sitting at a table, one of them gestured to her, “It looks like you’re having a difficult time, eh?”

The other was more finely dressed, thinner, and had features that looked elvish. He called the innkeeper over. “Give her a room,” he said, tossing three silver pieces on the table, “And a good hot meal.”

She froze. “No, sir. I’m not sure who you think I am!”

The man laughed. “Not to worry. We’ll not harm you. Sit down, miss.” Then added, gesturing to the chair, “Please?”

He took charge of the conversation, asking her name, and telling her that he had seen her shouting at the Wizard’s Guild at the gates to CenterTown earlier that evening. Her shock that she had been followed lessened as he explained that they also had problems with the guild.

As the innkeeper brought out their food, the elf explained that criminal wizards had become a huge problem in the city, but that the guild blocked all efforts to bring them to justice. He worked with a faction that wanted to put all of the rogue mages behind bars, and would she be willing to get back at the guild by helping them?

She hesitated. “How?”

“It’s simple, really. By finding and capturing rogue criminal wizards, and bringing them to justice.”

She was intrigued, but also suspicious. “And how would I do that, if I haven’t learned any powers?”

The elf scoffed. “Who needs to learn magic? That’s the long, hard way.” He leaned in, and spoke more intensely. “I can give you the easy way to throw magic around. Are you interested?”

Her eyes opened wide. I can use magic? Easily? It’s always been so hard for me! “I am! Tell me how that works!”

He reached back and grabbed a pouch and set it on the table next to her dinner plate. She slowly picked it up and peeked inside. There were a number of gems, big enough to fit in the palm of her hand. She reached in the bag, but the first man stopped her.

The elf explained, “We’d rather not have you display those here, for all to see.” Nodding, she set the pouch back down on the table.

“Are they... Oculi?” She had heard of them from her father, who knew all about gems. She had never seen any like these, because the only ones that came to her city so far up in the hills were the ones on the river barges.

“Yes!” He explained, “Eyes of the Creator! With the red one, you can throw fire. With the blue one, you can move things using your mind. The grey ones? They’re what you’ll use to entrap the foul mages that are sullying up our city. If... If, of course, you decide to help us.”

He reached across the table and picked up the pouch with the oculi. Having finished their meal, and the conversation, the two men stood. The human put his hat on, and tipped it toward Karendle. “Miss, enjoy your dinner and your stay here. We’ll talk more, tomorrow.”

She could barely think of anything to say as she had watched them step out the door and into the rain.

Back at the Brown Boar,  she blinked her eyes, and came out of the reverie. She tossed a copper coin onto the table next to her plate and walked over to the stairs leading up to the rooms. As she passed the innkeeper’s wife, she asked, “So, do you know where they took the wizard that your husband overcame?”

“I don’t know.” She put on a puzzled look, “But it’s probably the guard tower in the InnerWall, just down the sloping road a bit. That’s the closest one, I’d think...”

Karendle smiled. “Thank you very much!”

<<<>>>

This continues the story of the heroes in Wynne, in Twynne Rivers, in the world of The Hero's Tale, Family Friendly RPGs. Here's more info on The Hero's Tale, and family friendly RPGing.


Previous Scene, Next Scene
Start the whole story from the beginning. Start from where this current story arc begins.

"Don't Have the Spark" - A Tale of Heroes - Scene 15: Karendle

By noon, the rains had stopped in Twynne Rivers. As the afternoon grew, the sky was still overcast, but at least it wasn’t crying like it had been for the last three days. The streets were still wet, even puddled, and sometimes still flowing.

People wasted no time getting back to business, slogging over the paving stones and occasionally the mud to get their burdens where they needed to go. Shops opened their windows and doors.

Karendle weaved her way between the people as she hurried past them. She wasn’t tall, but she was stocky, with stout shoulders and long, thick hair braided behind her. Her face was round, with full cheeks below brown eyes.

She looked at the banners hanging above the doorways as she walked. The Brown Boar Inn. There it is! Just like they said it would be.

She stepped up, opened the door, and passed inside. It took a minute for her eyes to adjust to the dimmer light. At the far end was a fireplace, and there were several strong wooden tables scattered around the floor. There weren’t too many patrons yet, so she moved to one of the tables and sat down.

Her father had been a dwarven gem trader in the western mountains, and had returned from Twynne Rivers with a new human wife. They soon had a daughter, and as she grew up, she felt the differences between herself and the full blooded dwarves around her. She was taller, but not so strong, and often felt out of place. That was made worse by her desire to learn magic. Her mom knew a bit of the powers, and had tried to teach her, but it never seemed to click for her.

Finally, after coming of age, she determined to go to the great city and see if she could learn the powers directly from the elves there.

The plump and smiling innkeeper’s wife interrupted her memories and asked in a loud, friendly tone, “What can I get for you?”

“Just a meal with some ale.”

“Is chicken and bread good for you?”

“Sure.”

Karendle had traveled down the river, and sought out the Wizard’s guild. It hadn’t been easy to find them, and they were none too happy to see her. They had one of their instructors humor her with a quick exam, then dismissed her as uninstructable. “You don’t have the... the spark inside you. You’ll never be a mage.” The more she pressed them, the stronger their denials became. Finally, they had expelled her from their guild hall, and from CenterTown.

A few more patrons had begun to flow into the inn, as dinnertime drew closer. Some took seats at tables, others went back to the bar to talk to the innkeeper. The evening pubcrier stepped in, and everyone turned to listen as he rattled off his announcements and news. It was typical things, a pronouncement of taxes from the King, news of a band of wizards being arrested for attacking a shopkeeper on the RiverFront, and a Councilman decrying the attack and calling for stronger measures of control. The Wizard’s Guild, of course, opposed. As the patrons listened, they murmured their assent.

The innkeeper’s wife soon brought out a plate of food and set it before Karendle. “Here ya go! Those mages. I don’t know!”

“How so?” Karendle asked.

“Some are nice enough, I suppose. But they’re getting out of control, I say.” She put her hands on her hips. “We had one try to rob us just last night!”

“Really?” Karendle asked, trying to hide that she already knew, “What happened?”

<<<>>>

This continues the story of the heroes in Wynne, in Twynne Rivers, in the world of The Hero's Tale, Family Friendly RPGs. Here's more info on The Hero's Tale, and family friendly RPGing.


Previous Scene, Next Scene
Start the whole story from the beginning. Start from where this current story arc begins.